Immortal Fire - Book One
Chapter 16

I could not understand what had happened. Had I done something wrong that I did not know of? I was missing the Hayden I had come to know and care for. Yes, I admitted it; I did care for him. I missed his snarky comments, humor, and charisma that I had never found anyone else to have possessed. It had only been a short time of knowing him, but it felt like a lifetime, and I did not care if it sounded cliché.

We walked in silence for the next forty minutes. It was getting dark, and I was exhausted. Hayden never once slowed for me to catch my breath and I was starting to loathe him for it. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, just painfully breathing, when I slammed into Hayden’s back. Looking up, I had to remind myself that I was not dreaming or making up the scene before me.

Just a few feet away from us was a twenty-foot-high wall that was made of quartz and had vines growing on the gate, which looked to be cast of Silver… Atop the wall, patrolled the guards as well as just behind the silver gate.

“Aria, I need you to keep quiet and let me do the talking, okay?” I just nodded, not being able to take my eyes off the sight before me.

Hayden started forward and motioned for me to follow. I did as I was instructed and kept quiet when the guard came toward us on the other side of the gate.

“Who wishes to enter Lunzos?” The guard looked about forty years old, and Hayden moved forward so that he was flush with the gate. The guard’s eyes widened as he took Hayden in.

“Hayden Levi?” The guard’s disbelief was obvious. Hayden was smiling now.

“Hi, Marcus…” Hayden replied with a large smile.

“By the Goddess; is it you?” Hayden laughed at that.

“Yeah, it’s me, can we come in?” The guard then looked behind Hayden and saw me for the first time. I did not know what to do so; I just smiled and waved lamely. The guard looked back at Hayden with his eyes even wider than before.

“Got you a girl, huh?” Hayden stiffened but I only seemed to notice it.

“No; not exactly... This is Aria; I need her to see The Elders.”

“Boy, what you went and got yourself into this time? You know your father would want me to give you an ass whooping for him if you got up to no good…” said Marcus sternly. Hayden smiled weakly, trying to fake indifference to someone bringing up his father.

“I haven’t done anything Marcus, so you don’t need to worry.” Marcus thought about it for a second and then whistled.

The rest of the Guards carried the whistle along to one another until the tune of an unknown song filled the air with its notes and the gate started to open. The vines, of their own accord, started to peel away from the silver bars and the gate. With a shudder, the gate swung open to reveal inside…

The sight inside was one to behold. Different precious and semi-precious stones lined the walkway, and the buildings inside seemed to be carved from onyx. Nature ran freely through the entire city from what I could see. Shades of green, yellow, pink, purple, and more than I could name hung in a kaleidoscope of tones over everything within. It was beautiful. Upon a hill stood a large building with spires and spiral staircases all made of milky quartz like that of the city walls. I had not realized that I was standing and staring until Marcus cleared his throat.

“Sorry…” I stammered, embarrassed. Hayden was already heading inside and had not waited for me – again.

“Such a gentleman...” I mumbled under my breath, as I headed after him. Marcus must have heard me for he chuckled.

“Never mind him, love. He can be a bit obtrusive, but his heart is always in the right place,” said Marcus.

“Yeah well, he was fine and not such an ass, not so long ago; I don’t know what I’ve done to him,” I replied.

Marcus and I were heading up the road, side by side as we watched Hayden slightly ahead. Marcus was smiling at my little rant. At least someone here is friendly, I thought to myself. We rounded a corner and Hayden was waiting for us.

“Marcus, could you please let The Elders know that we wish to speak to them as soon as possible?” he said.

“Sure thing, don’t go wandering off anywhere boy; I’ll be right back.” Marcus eyed Hayden quizzically and then me. He was heading up the street towards the large building when Hayden spun me around.

“What the...?” I exclaimed. “Aria, listen to me.” He was still holding me in place and was bending slightly to look me dead in the eyes. When he saw I was listening, he let go of me. “The Elders are not like me or Marcus. They believe in the old ways, so don’t speak unless spoken to, okay?” he said, forcing as much emphasis on the words as he possibly could.

“Okay, I guess…” I still did not understand why he was acting the way he was.

“Hayden, what’s going on with you? You’ve been acting weird since we were in the car…” The silence was the only answer I got. Fine, if he wanted to be like that then so could I.

Turning on my heel, I walked in the direction that Marcus had gone. I could hear Hayden’s speedy steps behind me. Pausing next to the main jewel-encrusted street, I waited with my arms crossed.

“Where the hell are you going?” said Hayden, sounding irritated.

“Away from you...” I snapped. Looking at him now, I could see that my outburst had affected him.

“Why away from me?”

“You are not being honest with me. You are hiding things and I do not like it; never mind this holier than thou attitude that you have suddenly acquired towards me. So, if you do not mind, I would prefer to wait for Marcus without any more lies and secrets coming out of your mouth.” I said angrily.

Hayden stood back a step and just stared. Not saying a word and watching as a mask of indifference came over his face, he nodded and faced away. I was not going to lie, I felt like shit for being so mean to him, but he deserved it. I just could not shake the feeling that something big was at play here. We stood a few feet apart in silence while we waited for Marcus.

Sneaking peeks at Hayden, I had to force myself to shut my mouth and look away before I said anything. I refused to apologize. Yeah, I was stubborn as all hell. Eventually, Marcus returned and told us to follow him. We did so in silence, and it must have been making Marcus uncomfortable for he turned and gave us both a stern look.

“Right, you two, what is this nonsense about?” Marcus asked sternly.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Hayden replied in a very sarcastic tone and crossed his arms.

“The hell you don’t Hayden Levi. I have known you for your whole life, so do not try to fool me. I am too old for your shit!” I could not help the giggle that left my lips. Clamping a hand over my mouth, I found both men staring at me; Hayden looking incredulous and Marcus, furious.

“And you, young Aria, I do not know what you have to do with anything, but I have never seen Hayden act this way, so I suggest that you stop provoking this kind of behavior out of him.” I could not believe it.

“Excuse me? I provoked nothing. This dweeb over here,” I shoved a finger at him, “has been a total jerk to me for the past few hours and I have no idea why! So, if anyone is being provoked, it’s me!”

When I finally finished my little rant and shouted at them, I could feel the heat in my face. Hayden looked pained, but who cared? I certainly did not. Liar. Looking at both men, now speechless, I started walking again.

Whilst walking away, I heard Marcus chuckle and slap Hayden on the shoulder.

“You know what? I think I might like her Hayden. C’mon, let us get going before she storms The Elders and unleashes her fury on them too....”

He was chuckling again and despite my anger, I felt myself smile whilst they could not see. Maybe I was being a bit over the top with my whole reaction, but I needed to prove a point to Hayden that I was not going to let him be a jerk to me and that I did not tolerate secrets; especially with what was happening in my life now. Secrets ruined everything that they encountered.

Finally, reaching the top of a torturous flight of stairs, I was bending over trying to catch my breath. What was with these people who never get tired? I knew that I wasn’t the fittest person around, but come on, this was ridiculous. I was sweating like a damn pig!

“These are the two I was talking about earlier.” Straightening up, I saw that Marcus was speaking to two guards posted outside a massive oak door.

They have dressed in black uniforms that kind of reminded me of a ninja, mixed with a biker. Yeah, the image might sound strange, but it looked good. The uniforms consisted of black pants that looked comfortable yet still hugged their bodies, black flat-soled boots that rose to just above the ankle, a form-fitting jacket that had a wide hood, and silver buckles down the front that reminded me of fig leaves.

The two guards gave us the once over and stepped aside. The one on the left banged a fist on the door and it opened. Just behind the massive door was a fountain that had a statue of a woman, she was beautiful, and water ran over her marble features, bubbling at her feet. The rest of the room was white and glistened. To say that it was huge was an understatement of note. The ceiling was dome-shaped, and paintings of flora and fauna scenes covered its great expanse.

Three corridors left the room. From this point, I could not see where they would lead to.

“This way…” It was Hayden and he grabbed my shoulder to steer me in the right direction. As soon as he touched me, that familiar tingling burn crept over me. He must have felt it too for I heard him suck in a breath. We were heading to the corridor on the left, and I suddenly had an overwhelming sense of Deja vu.

Everything was so silent in this corridor that I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. Candles lined the corridor as it never seemed to end. Finally, just before I was about to scream to break the silence, I heard running water. An archway began to form at the end of the corridor and light blinded me as we passed through. Blinking, to readjust my eyesight to the bright light in the room, I eventually focused on three high-backed chairs. They were empty. Well, isn’t that disappointing… I swear if I went up those stupid stairs for nothing, I would blow this place up…

“Where are they?” I asked. Hayden shushed me.

“But,”

“Aria, be quiet.” Now Marcus was telling me to shut up. Well, whoopee freaking doo. It must be an Elf thing to be so damn wound up all the time and act as if you had a stick up your ass.

I decided to make that a mental note and filed it away for future reference. Turning and taking in the detail of the room for the first time, I could not help but feel that I had been here before.

Everything looked familiar, but it was impossible, as well as the feeling of dread that seeped into me when I stood here. I could not explain it, but I wanted to run for the hills as my soul screamed at me.

Hayden must have noticed my body tense up for he gave me a tentative squeeze on my shoulder which he still held. Looking up at him, he smiled. I just could not understand him. He could be so nice and then just flip a switch and become the opposite. I was about to say something when Hayden dropped his hand from my shoulder quickly and straightened up. Marcus did the same and faced the chairs.

Turning my head, I saw why; The Elders were here.